1st Cruise

Carnival Freedom Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

askeegan

Contributor Level: Staff Captain

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Reviews: 5

Helpful Votes: 137

Overall rating:

5 out of 5

6 Night Western Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: September 15, 2013

Ship: Carnival Freedom

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 1058

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 9 years ago

Review summary

This was the first time my wife and I had cruised. Having only been to the Caribbean via land vacays, I was very skeptical about taking a cruise. I love to sit on the beach and have a few cold ones.

Well, Fort Lauderdale was my first real introduction to organized chaos! LOL. The boarding procedure was lengthy and boring but we did not care because we were just excited for this new adventure.

Once on the ship, we headed to the buffet and enjoyed decent food, which was different from the resort type food, so that was a plus.

Over the next 6 days, we enjoyed the shows, which were awesome, comedians, which always kept us talking about after the fact and the dining experiences that we had were top notch!

The POC that we had were Key West, Grand Cayman and Ochos Rios. Out of all, I did not care for Jamaica but that was due to a comment that one of the locals made to my wife.

All and all, it was a fantastic trip and I was hooked. Strongly recommend cruising to everyone now!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Children's Programs

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

The steward that looked after us was named Wii or something like that for spelling. He was a magician, we never saw him enter or exit but our room was always clean! Very friendly man, greeted us with a smile and hand shake everyday. He made us feel at home!

Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

5 out of 5

Key West, Florida

5 out of 5

George Town, Grand Cayman

5 out of 5

Ocho Rios, Jamaica

3 out of 5

Traveler Photos

6 Comments

texasd 9 years ago

We have been there several times and have always had a great time/experience. We book through a local Jamaica tourism company named Barrett Adventures. Found them years ago while reading reviews on Cruise Critic. Smaller size excursions, less expensive than cruise line, more personal and they keep you away from all the creepy locals and drug pushers. They can be found on the Internet. Carolyn Barrett who owns the company is a USA citizen.

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corallady9 9 years ago

Hubby and I do not get off the ship in Jamaica. We take advantage of in port specials at the spa or enjoy the pool and hot tub.

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pj6213 9 years ago

cruised to Jamaica in 2013 and from the time I got off the boat til the time I got back to the boat someone was trying to sell me a reefer. no more Jamaica for me.

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Uebey 9 years ago

Jamaica scared me a bit on my first visit but I scheduled an excursion with Carnival and it was apparent that when we were in the public, the locals knew not to mess with those of us in the excursion group. I don't know if they were told to not mess with guests "helping" their economy through Carnival, or what, but I really enjoyed getting out and learning a bit of Jamaican history with the tour.

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Islandtimejosh 9 years ago

Try Royal Caribbean next time. They have their own port in Falmouth Jamaica. Carnival docks in such a scary area and so far away from everything. Only select locals are allowed in the port area with Royal Caribbean. No high pressure sales or scary people.

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nklebba8 9 years ago

I am so glad you enjoyed yourselves. My husband & I did the same cruise 2 yrs ago & Jamaica was really kind of scary. To us there is nothing like a cruise. It is so much fun & there is always something to do.

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